The battlefield snapped into stillness, like a television being unplugged. Until now, the shouts and explosions had been a constant rhythm in the background. Akari had even gotten used to the shaking floor and rattling windows. Now the silence was almost deafening.

What the hell happened? She tried to speak, but her lips wouldn’t budge. Even her brain slowed down as if she had to wade through molasses to form each thought. Her friends were frozen too, and so were the surrounding Grevandi.

Who could do this? The Dragonlord? A Mystic?

Then something caught her eye—a flicker of blue light reflected in her glasses. Another heartbeat passed, then a Missile soared through the room. But unlike most Missiles, this one seemed to have a mind of its own, darting left and right like a hummingbird.

“There you are!” a female voice said. Akari couldn’t tell where it came from, but it definitely sounded too cheerful to be a dragon.

The blue Missile soared around Relia, unfreezing her. It did the same for Kalden and Akari.

Relia waved at the Missile. “Thanks, Glim!”

Kalden blinked at the scene, shooting a glance at the still-frozen Grevandi. “Um … Glim?”

The Missile flew into the nearby glass window, taking the form of a young woman with chin-length blue hair and a matching dress. Even her skin was a pale blue—the same shade as pure mana.

“Glimmar Gadriel Darklight,” she said with a wave. “Sorry we haven’t met before. You can blame my stingy mana battery for that.” She glanced up at the sky. “Speaking of which, here he comes now.”

Akari looked out the window and saw dozens of soldiers frozen in the street below. Many held mana in their palms if as their techniques had been interrupted midway through.

“Talek,” she muttered. “He froze the whole city?”

“Just a one-mile radius,” Glim said. “He’s a Grandmaster, not an Archangel.”

Akari shifted her gaze upward and saw a man-shaped silhouette descending from the sky. For a split second, she almost thought it was the man from her dream. But as the figure cleared the smoke, Akari saw the truth of it. This was Elend Darklight flying on a glider.

Kalden let out a small laugh behind her. “That explains all the weirdness.”

Akari nodded her agreement. The glider was pale blue, from the handle to the sail. He’d probably forged it from solid mana like the grappling hook he’d made back on Arkala. Akari relaxed her vision, and saw the storm of dream mana spreading out from him.

Space mana couldn’t do something at this scale. Neither could Kalden’s blade aspect. Her parents had tried to tell her that, but she hadn’t listened.

But this … this was true power. Not just the power to win duels, but the power to turn the tide of an entire war. This was the power she’d need to free her home. And now, she and Kalden both had a second chance. A chance to re-aspect their mana and do things no other Artist had ever done. A chance to take risks no one else would dare take. Not even their past selves.

Relia led them out of the apartment, down the stairs, and out the building’s front door. Akari and Kalden had been reluctant to expose themselves so much, but the blue fairy girl assured them it’d be fine.

And yes, they were taking orders from mana fairies now. But like Kalden said, things got weird around Elend.

The glider descended on the urban street, and Elend let go several feet from the ground, letting his vessel fade to mist. He wove through the crowd of frozen soldiers, and the closest ones lay down on the road as if they’d just fallen asleep.

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Finally, Elend stopped when he reached Akari and the others. They must have looked like a hot mess. Kalden was missing an entire hand, not to mention two more fingers. Akari’s clothes were torn open around her midriff, and trails of damp blood ran down her pants. Relia’s armor was burnt in several places, blood stains covered her arms up to her elbows, and she’d lost a giant chunk of her braid.

Elend took in the sight for several heartbeats, then gave a solemn nod. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be here sooner.” Then he turned to face Glim who had begun hovering beside him. “How long do we have?”

The Missile bobbed up and down. “I’d say we have about five more—”

A roar echoed over the city. It was nothing like the bird-like shrieks she’d heard from the Grevandi. This was all raw power. Akari had to close her ears. She felt the weight of it in her chest, and every muscle in her body turned to jelly. She collapsed on the street, and Kalden and Relia fell with her.

“Never mind,” Glim said. “Here he comes now.”

A dark shadow filled the sky. She’d seen the Dragonlord before—everyone in Tureko had seen him flying over the city. But now he flew straight toward them, growing larger by the second.

“Don’t worry,” Elend said. “He’s angry, but he can’t hurt you.”

The massive dragon hovered above their heads, blocking out the morning sun. His body alone was wider than this entire street, and his wings could have spanned several city blocks. In that moment, a dozen stories raced through her head. People claimed the Dragonlord could level buildings with a single Missile technique. Elend’s little hang glider seemed far less impressive by comparison. How could he fight something like this?

But Elend’s mana remained as steady as a winter pond. He still kept the soldiers asleep, but he didn’t form any other techniques. Not even a shield.

The Dragonlord continued flapping his massive wings, sending clouds of dust and smoke in their faces. Akari shielded her face, but Elend still didn’t flinch.

Mana flashed in a burst of green light, and the dragon’s body shrunk to a normal human size. He kept his wings, but he didn’t use them. Instead, his body plummeted several stories. The ground shook when he landed, and his boots left a crater in the road.

“Darklight!” he roared across the street. “We had a deal.”

The strength of his voice made Akari want to collapse again, but she held her ground.

“I couldn’t break our deal if I wanted to,” Elend said. “It was a soul oath. Not a friendly handshake.” He stretched out his arms as if to show they were empty. For the first time, Akari realized his cuffs were gone.

“You’re lying.” The Dragonlord stepped closer, stretching out his wings and spanning half the street. The air blurred around him in waves of heat, and several cars lifted off the asphalt, melting like candle wax. “You gave me dream mana. You tricked the Ethersmith.”

“Remind me again,” Elend said. “What was our deal?”

Antano turned his gaze to Akari and the others, narrowing his golden eyes. Akari took a few steps to her left, shamelessly hiding behind Elend. She could face Artisans all day, but this was different. Facing an enemy Grandmaster brought out some primal fear within her. A fear she hadn’t felt since Last Haven’s destruction. Her knees shook like leaves in a storm, and it took all her willpower not to run.

“I never agreed to this interrogation,” Elend said. “On the contrary, I’m supposed to leave your nation as quickly as possible.”

“You think this is over?” The dragon’s voice rose again, and Akari braced herself for another deafening roar.

Elend just shrugged, showing the first hint of a smile. “Honestly, Antano, you never had those cuffs in the first place. You lost nothing today.”

The floating cars erupted in a multicolored blaze. Even from ten paces away, Akari felt the heat of it on her cheeks. Elend seemed confident, but he’d been confident against the Martials too.

“You should know,” Elend began, “that my lovely wife is just a few miles from your border.”

The Dragonlord paused, glancing at the mana wall that separated Creta from Vaslana.

Elend’s smile widened. “But you knew she was coming, didn’t you?”

Several seconds passed before a massive white airship appeared on the horizon. It hovered by the city’s northern mana barrier, then an entire section of the wall flickered out, big enough for the ship to fly through.

“This oath won’t protect you,” the Dragonlord said. “I have powerful allies. Allies you can’t even imagine. Word will reach their ears. They’ll come for you, and everyone you love.”

Elend said nothing as the airship flew straight toward them. Irina Darklight must have sensed her husband here, the same way he’d sensed her coming.

“This is your last chance,” the Dragonlord said. “Give me what you promised, and we can put this behind this. Run, and make an enemy of me for life.”

Elend shrugged again. “Remember those stories you heard about me, Antano? The ones that called me eccentric? Unreasonable?” He paused as the airship cast a dark shadow over their heads. “You should have listened.”